Are Your Toddler Toys Dangerous?

We recently child-proofed our house—packed up the breakables, installed gates, cleared out any choking hazards. We even stashed our coffee table in the attic when we realized it was becoming our daughter's own personal Mount Everest. Recent news about possible toxins in toys, however, makes me want to take another look at the house. According to this week's Time magazine, the city of San Francisco recently banned the sale of plastic toys containing certain chemicals. Those tub books and ice rings your baby likes to chew on? They could contain the chemicals in question—phthalates and bisphenol A, which are used to soften vinyl or make plastic shatterproof. Studies in animals have shown that they're linked to prostrate and breast cancers, abnormal genital development, early puberty and obesity. Even more troubling, studies on moms who've been around the stuff have started to raise some red flags, too.

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"…Boys born to mothers with higher phthalate levels are far more likely to show altered genital development, linked to incomplete testicular descent. Harvard School of Public Health studies report that men with higher phthalate levels have lower sperm counts and damaged sperm DNA."

Chemical companies insist that the studies are overblown, and that the chemicals used in making these items are in such small amounts that the end product is not toxic. But the Environment Protection Agency admits that its guidelines for safe human exposure are decades old and don't incorporate new data. It's enough to make your head spin.

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What's worse is that it's almost impossible to tell which of your child's playthings might contain these chemicals, as toy packages don't come with a list of ingredients, and companies aren't required by law to disclose them. But the San Francisco Chronicle recently tested 16 common items and found a teether and a rubber duckie with 5 and 13 times, respectively, the amount phthalates allowed by city law. We can hope for a little more clarity on the issue in January, when the chemicals companies take up their case to block the San Francisco law in the courts. Until then, I'm thinking breaking out the wooden alphabet blocks and the hand-crocheted stuffed animals. That is, after I check to make sure the paints are non-toxic and the fibers are organic…